Because being cold is the secret to weight loss, according to science

A woman with her scarf wrapped around her nose and mouth, feeling cold (Photo : Getty Images/Tim Boyle)

Looking for faster and effective ways to lose weight? The secret could just be as simple as turning down your heater.

According to Prevention, a recent research suggests that spending time in cooler temperature can boost burn up of calories by 30 percent. This research is published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Professor Barbara Cannon, a physiologist at the Wenner-Gren Institute in Stockholm explains that it is because of brown fats, NetDoctor reported. She said that brown fats act differently from the variety of fats that most of us are trying to lose.

She explained that the white variety of fats, which is the normal fat tissue is the main storage place of energy and this energy is stored in the form of fat. On the other hand, brown fat cells which are filled with mitochondria is where fat combustion takes place. The cells will first burn the fat they contain and then import the fat from the white fat stores.

So what happens is that when our body is exposed to cold temperature, it increases the development and the production of brown fat cells. This is because when we feel cold, the nervous system send signals to the temperature sensing region of the brain and then activates the nerves that travel to brown fat.

This theory was tested in a study conducted in 2012, where volunteers were made to wear cold suit for three hours. The suit was just enough to decrease their body temperature without making them shiver. The researchers found that over the three hour period, the participants were able to burn a total of 250 calories.

Calorie burning is just one of the important benefits of brown fat. Brown fat also plays a significant role in stabilizing blood sugar and fighting diabetes. It is also known to cholesterol levels which means that they are also very helpful in keeping a healthy heart.